Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Impact of culture on economic development
Economic globalization effects on culture
How culture is affected by change
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
In a changing world with old ways of doing things no longer needed, but sentimental values important, what would be the best way to approach the future? Pennies are a thing of the past and hinder the prosperous future America could have. It is true pennies have patriotic and sentimental value in many American lives. However, the world is changing tremendously and most of the sentimental and patriotic value of the penny ends up in jars and sock drawers in many American homes. Because of the changing times pennies have become a hindrance to growth, investment, and convenience in America’s future so they should be eliminated. First of all, the changing times, increasing technology, and national growth are becoming very apparent, but the penny …show more content…
Pennies worth in the peoples eyes, even if they might not realize it, has been diminished greatly. Although many people are not willing to admit it, “The majority of pennies don't circulate,'' said Philip N. Diehl, director of the mint. ''They make a one-way trip from us to penny jars, sock drawers, piggy banks and the spaces between couch cushions. Two-thirds of the pennies produced in the last 30 years have dropped out of circulation” (John Tierney). Due to the growing economy and market the with of the penny has become more and more impractical in our daily life. People talk about the “Good old days”, and how grand life was in their younger years. However things are doubtlessly changing, “You can't use it in a phone," Kolbe said. "You can't use it in a parking meter. You can't use it in a gumball machine” (ABC News). People might say they are needed based on the past involvement in the economy, but the truth is they have lost their value and worth for the American future. Looking at the growing economy it takes looking at a situation logically and continuing the penny is clearly not a logical investment despite sentimental
The Penny is a wonderful coin. It might only be worth one cent but that one cent can help people in all sought's of situations. The penny should kept in circulation. There are many people that use the penny still in today’s society.
Even though members of Congress are trying to ban to penny, Americans can spare the time to use them. In Ric Kahn’s
Throughout the past decade, costs of everything have skyrocketed. According to Source C, America used to have “five and dime stores;” now its a dollar store. In addition, no one can buy anything with just a penny anymore. The source also made a fair observation that these worthless zinc disks are, “behind chair cushions or at the back of sock drawers next to your old tin-foil ball. Quarters and dimes circulated; pennies disappear because they are literally more trouble than they are worth.” According to a New York Times article, “it takes nearly a dime today to buy what a penny bought back in 1950.” The penny is still stuck in the 1950s while America just keeps moving on. As stated by Mark Lewis in his concept of establishing a bill, “the bill would not ban pennies, but merely discourage their use by establishing a system under which cash transactions would be rounded up or down.” (Source A) This motive will help keep the America exceed and
Do we really need pennies? The story of the penny starts in 1792; it came with several different coins including the dime, nickel, quarter, and half penny. The pennies were first made out of 100% copper, but the price of the copper went up, because of inflation, the power of the penny went down. The cause of the mint is to reduce the amount of copper in pennies first from 100% to 95% but then to 5% copper and 95% zinc. Despite the debate in 2006, the value of metal on older pennies rose over one year.
The debate of eliminating pennies or maintaining pennies is a current focus in the United States. Many people think that eliminating the penny would positively influence the United States because the government would not have to devote millions of dollars for pennies. While many other people think that eliminating the pennies would negatively influence the United States because of the rounding tax that would be introduced after the pennies are eliminated. I think that we should continue to keep on manufacturing the pennies because the penny shows how it impacted the English language, it can also help causes that can save lives, and pennies can keep the government from creating the rounding tax which can cost consumers millions of additional dollars.
Have a good look at the penny, what do you see? You probably see nothing but a copper coated circular poor valued cent. Little does everyone know pennies have been around longer than before their grandparents, even their great-grandparents! Matter of fact, it was around so long ago that Abraham Lincoln’s face was not the first design on the penny. I ask that you take the time to consider the American penny’s worth. Without the people’s belief in its value, the penny will be abolished. I see people every day throwing away a penny rather than to put it in their pocket and save it for future uses. Yes a penny is "outdated, almost worthless, bothersome and wasteful" (Safire) piece of junk, but it's has an economic, cultural, and historical significance to the United States of America. The problem is that nobody pays attention to that, and that gives pennies the image of no value. Three good solutions to show the pennies worth include: tolls and vending machines accepting the coin, more charities to keep their penny drives, and historical evidence of what the penny mean to America so that it can be passed on to the future generations.
Back in the 1900’s kids all over would be so grateful to find a penny. Doing so meant they got to run to the local candy store. William Safire, author of “Abolish the Penny” agrees with the notation of abolishing the penny. In Safire's article he makes a strong claim stating that you, “can’t buy anything with a penny any more” (Safire). Expanding on that claim, there is no point in keeping something around that is taking a resource of zinc and copper, when the resource is being wasted to the garbage. Back in the day it would be absurd to throw such a useful coin away. There is no real need for the coin so keeping it around is simply
Millions of Americans work full-time, day in and day out, making near and sometimes just minimum wage. In 1998, Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them in part by the welfare claim, which promises that any job equals a better life. Barbara wondered how anyone can survive, let alone prosper, on $6-$7 an hour. Barbara moved from Florida to Maine to Minnesota, working in the cheapest lodgings available and accepting work as a waitress, hotel maid, house cleaner, nursing home aide, and Wal-Mart salesperson. She soon realizes that even the lowliest occupations require exhausting mental and physical efforts and in most cases more than one job was needed to make ends meet. Nickel and Dimed reveals low-wage America in all of its glory, consisting of
Many of Americans view the every day penny as only one cent that carries only little to no value, which is why they wind-up stashed away at the back of drawers. What most people don’t have a clue is the value it once held back in the days where a can of coke was about one cent. Our very own citizens who once fought battles and came home scarred knew that the penny wasn’t just one cent, it was the blood shed, their fallen brothers, and the never ending tears that symbolized one single Lincoln. Pennies are worth more than their currency, they are the history of our home and the beginning of where we stand today.
In America’s modern day economy, the penny is very useless and irrelevant in our society today. As source C states, “The time has come to abolish the outdated, almost worthless, bothersome, and wasteful penny.” There is not one item that can be purchased with a penny anymore (Source C). As source C states, “it takes nearly a dime to buy what a penny bought back in 1950.” Stores such as the Dollar Store prove how the cheapest items you can purchase are with only a dollar, not a cent. Pennies are shoved out of the economic picture by credit cards and because of the modern-day technology, there are even self-service machines that help convert coins into paper money (Source B). Furthermore, pennies are easily tossed into piggy banks or appear behind chair cushions. It is not used the same way as it was before.
Though the penny’s value has decreased a good amount, some Americans condemn the idea of abolishing the penny because they believe the penny is sentimental to American history. Penny fans argue
For instance, in the article “Abolish the Penny (Source 3)”, it clearly states, “Where do they go? Two-thirds of them immediately drop out of circulation, into piggy banks or –as The Time’s John Tierney noted five years ago –behind chair cushions or at the back of sock drawers next to your old tin-foil ball.” Adding on, many people view the penny as a useless currency, and they even leave it in hidden places around their own home. The reason why pennies are sometimes located in piggy banks or at the back of sock drawers is that citizens see no purpose in obtaining them. In other words, it seems as if the penny has lost its fame and glory ever since other forms of currency have been established, such as quarters, dimes, and dollar bills. As explained by William Safire, quarters and dimes seem to circulate more often than pennies, and pennies “disappear” due to their worthless value and troubles. Specifically, the reign of quarters and dimes has overtaken the significance of pennies, and as time passes by, the term “penny” might not even be mentioned anywhere around the United States. In addition, more people nowadays tend to use quarters and dimes for due change, leaving the penny to become less essential for our needs. As stated in Source 3, the British and French have already abandoned their low-value coins approximately 30 years ago. This demonstrates the probable
Every year, 1.2 million pennies are tossed in fountains, on the ground, or are unaccepted. The penny has been a part of the United States for more than 200 years. Its design has changed twenty-one times. As the economy has changed, so has the value of the coin. The United States should get rid of the penny because it is unneeded. The penny takes up too much space, getting rid of it will save time, and it costs more to produce than what they are worth.
The penny has been in America for centuries, it's a sentimental object for Americans everywhere. However many have debated on whether or not it should be eliminated or continue being made. The penny should be preserved because it is apart of American culture, given to charity, and keeps items cheap.
Why should we end this? It’s such an old piece of American history, kids like to save them up. Who cares if they’re out of circulation for awhile? According to (Safire) 10 million pennies are punched out everyday. The penny also honors Abraham Lincoln. Michael Bishop, executive director of the Bicentennial Commission said “The penny is perhaps the most visible and tangible reminder of Lincolns significance in American history” (Press Release)